Muffler having spaced frusto-conical baffle plates with perforated center tube and attached cooling fins



J. R. BRYSON ETAL 3,187,834 PACED F ATES WITH June 8, 1965 MUFFLER HAVING S RUSTO-CONICAL BAFFLE PL PERFORATED CENTER TUBE AND ATTACHED COOLING FINS Flled March 29, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 wmmwmw wwwwwm mm an n 5 M W om Mo 2w 2 e e 6 sews 6 O6 6 6 6 ewemwOOOOOOOO 00 e a ubzw 6 C) 5 w 6% 6O 6 6 6 e e e e a w 5 H 5 A 6 mm N ow BRYSON INVENTORS J. ROY ROBERT R. CASSILLY June 8, 1965 J. R. BRYSON ETAL 3,187,334

MUFFLER HAVING SPACED FRUSTO-CONICAL BAFFLE PLATES WITH PERFORATED CENTER TUBE AND ATTACHED COOLING PINS Filed March 29, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I7 v 2 35 x I ll l I :1 I

I I 1 I I 3 H l- 2 /V I I: L L] J 25" 4 27 f F s e. 5 36 l JNVENTORS l J. ROY BRYSON ROBERT R. CASSILLY BY M m W June 8, 1965 J. R. BRYSON ETAL 3,187,834 s WITH INS MUFFLER HAVING SPACED FRUSTO-CONICAL BAFFLE PLATE PERFORAI'ED CENTER TUBE AND ATTACHED COOLING F Filed March 29, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 s 5 R ,Y m m mNY ro w w 5 A v 9 R 1 BS A w Y OR M S v 0; m R U E w 2 on M a e e 6 6 0 6 5 3 31: i 6 6%@ 000 OO. ..OH\.O.O- 000 E T ew 6 6 6 66 6o 6 o e e 6 the exhaust gases.

Another and further object of this invention is to produce United States Patent O A MUFFLER HAVING SPACED FRUSTU-CONIQIAL I RAFFLE PLATES WITH .IERFQRATED CENTER TUBE AND ATTACHED CUQLING FINS James Roy Bryson, Fallsten, and Robert R. Cassitly, Eel

Air, Md, assignors to the United States of America as represented by'the Secretary of the Army Filed Mar. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 269,217

Claims. (Cl. 181-44) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalties thereon.

. The present invention relates to improvements in sound suppressing devices and the like, and more particularly to new and improved internal combustion engine mufilers as employed on armored combat vehicles.

,In the field of internal combustion engine muffling devices it has been the general practice to employ mufflers of various kinds in an attempt to'reduce noise levels of large, heavy duty vehicular type engines. Although such devices have served their purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service for the reason that considerable difficulty has been experiencedwith mufiler failure resulting from excessive metal expansion or lack of heat dissipation peculiar to combat type-vehicles, and corrosion from large volumes of high temperature exhaust gases. Those concerned with the development of armored vehicle mutllers have recognized the need for extending the usefullife of such mufflers, especially with the more recent high powered engines (800 HR) while simultaneously improving sound suppressions. The present invention fulfills these needs.

An object of the present invention isto produce mufflers having an unobstructed passage from the engine exhaust manifold to the atmosphere.

A further object of this invention is to provide a muflier having an internal baifle construction which will increase the sectional modulus, i.e., elasticity, strength, and efiiciency of such baffle-s in relation to the force of amufller having a heat exchanger means which will assure the uninterrupted and eflicient conduction of heat from the interior of the muffler to its exterior heat dissipating means. I

Yet another object isthe fabrication of a mufller in sections so as to permit complete assembly of the muffler from the outside, thereby eliminating the necessity and inconvenience of having to assemble the muffler device within its interior.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the description of the invention as illustrated by the annexed drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 illustrates conical baffles and a center tube;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken on line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment having an elliptical shape;

FIGURE 5 is an end view of another alternative em- I bodiment showing a flat version of the present invention; FIGURE 6 is a top View of the flat version of the present invention having a diamond shape shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a top view of still another embodiment showing 'a triangular shaped flat version of the present invention;

3,182,834 Patented June 8, 1965 FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the triangular shaped fiat version of the present invention; and

FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to FIGURE 1 of a modified construction of the muffler.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in a preferred embodiment in FIG. 1 a cylindrical version of the mufiler generally designated 10. Inlet conduit 12 is connected to the main tubular body portion 15 by a conical portion 23 to provide uniform dispersion of the incoming gases. The discharge end of body portion 15 is connected to exhaust conduit 13 by a second conical section 24. This structure collects the gases for discharge from the muifier with a minimum of turbulence.

A plurality of spaced truncated baiiles 16 with integral fins 22%, as shown in FIG. 1, are joined by welding at their bases 38 to casing 15 which is made in relatively short cylindrical sections 31. The baflies are joined at their apex holes 18 to tube 14. In this preferred embodiment the cooling fins 20 are made as integral outward extensions of the bases 38 of the conical baflfles 16. Each section 31 is added to a conical section 16 with integral fin 2%. A particular advantage of this construc tion is case of assembly. The muffler may be completely assembled from the outside, eliminating the necessity of reaching inside to perform any of the assembly operations.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the center tube 14 is coaxial with the longitudinal 'centerline of the mufiier and also in alignment with the direction of flow of the incoming gases from conduit 12. This tube, shown separately in FIG. 2, is provided with a plurality of holes 17a. All of the conical bafiles with fins are-joined to the center tube 14 and body 15' in the same manner so as topermit the tube 14 to shift back and forth along the longitudinal axis of the muffler as the baffles expandand contract with tem erature change.

The conical baffles 16 with fins 20, shown in FIG. 1, are provided with round perforations 17. These perforations are made as round holes so as to prevent the concentration of stress at any single point along the periphery of any perforation. These perforations decrease in diameter in each succeeding bafile from muffler inlet towards the outlet.

I As an alternate construction illustrated in FIGURE 9, the casing 15 is a continuous tube with a plurality of spaced truncated bafiles 16' without fins 20, as shown in FIG. 2, joined by welding at their bases 19 to the inside perimeter of body portion15 and at their apex holes 18 to tube 14. Circular cooling fins 20' are joined to the outside perimeter of casing 15 opposite the joint of the base edge 19 of each baffle 16 with casing 15'. This placement of the line of attachment of the cooling fins directly opposite the line of attachment of the baffie is important because it provides a direct path of heat flow from the baf'lle inside to the fins outside of the mufiler, thus providing for an efficient and uniform cooling of the mufiler.

While the tubular body 15 and 15 of FIGURES 1 and 9 is shown as circular in cross section, other configurations may be used depending on installation space available in a particular vehicle, for example, the body may be elliptical and the conical baffles and the intake and discharge cones are deformed to conform body as shown in FIG. 4.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 5 and 6 which illustrate a flattened version of the muffler. In this version the tubular body as shown in FIG. 1 is eliminated; the cones at the intake and discharge sections are joined and further flattened into triangular shaped forms with flat top and bottom surfaces 35, 36 to form the body portion of the mufiier. This version is thus diamond-shaped to the elliptical when viewed from above as generally indicated by reference numeral 34. The bafiles 25 are flat rectangular sections arranged parallel to the direction of flow of the incoming gases. Round holes 17 are provided in these baflles as inithe conical baflles of FIG. 1. The center of the muffler has a diamond-shaped opening 29 with vertical walls 28 that are parallel 'to the corresponding sides that form the outer vertical sides 32 of the outer perimeter of the mufller. Entrance of center canal 27 is interrupted by'the vertical sides 28 of the center opening 29. The sides 28 force the incoming gases to sep arate. and travel in two paths through holes 17 in bafiies 25, once on dispersion and again on collectionbefore entering theexitof center canal 27. Cooling fins 26 are provided on the top and bottom surfaces opposite bafiles 25 and form extensions thereof in the manner as shown in 'FIG. '5.

"FIGS. 7 and 8 show a further modification of the flat version of FIGS. 5 and 6. In-installations where dispersion of the exhaust gases only is required, the lower or discharge half of the flatversion of FIGS. 5 and 6 may be omitted to provide a triangular shaped mufiler as shown at 37in FIGS. 7 and 8. v

, The rnufiler may be constructed in any of the shapes shown to conform to the space available in a particular installation. Most eflicient cooling results are obtained when zthe cooling airflow is substantially parallel to the planes ofJthe cooling fins. Thus the round or oval versions are used in installations in which the direction of the cooling air aroundthe mufller isperpendicular to; th e incoming flow of exhaust gases, while the flat version is used Where the cooling air flow 'is in the same direction as the flow of exhaust gases.

, Thespecial arrangement of perforations 17, as shown inFIG. 1, gives greater durability, bettersound absorption, and lower back pressures than other mufliers of comparable size, weightand cost. The bafiles are so a plurality of spaced bafile plates having aligned openings'thereon attached at an edge of each thereof to the interior surface of said wall and extending therefrom, a

an unobstructed perforated tube extending through said openings and 'a plurality of cooling fins attached at an edge of each thereof to the outside surface of said wall and extending therefrom, the attached edges of said fins positioned opposite to the line of attachment of said interior bafiies to provide a-continuous heat conduction path from the interior to the exterior of said mufiler to provide uniform cooling of said mufiier.

2. A mufiler as in claim 1 and wherein said body is cylindrical. n

3. A n ufiier as in claim 2 wherein said baflles are frusto-conical in shape with the edges of the bases thereof attached to said wall.

4. A muifier as in claim 3 wherein said baflies are truncated cones, the edge of each of said truncate openings being attached to said tube,

5. A muffler as defined in claim t in which the bathe plates are integral with the cooling fins and the wall of the hollow body is divided into sections extending be tween said battles and this.

References Cited by'the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 734,864 7/03 Heaslet 181-69 753,845 3/04 Brockway et al 181-68 X 1,059,279 4/13 Cottrell et a1. 181-70 X 1,357,079 10/20 Patch l81-46X 1,539,967 6/25 Stockton 181-56 1,631,391 6/27 -Williams 1 81-61 X 1,688,488 10/28 Dormeyer 181-61 1,860,892 5/32 Gray 181-45 2,035,923 3/36 Scarritt 181-45 2,096,000 10/37 Miles 1-81-46 X 2,511,597 6/50 Marx 1 181-68 X FOREIGN PATENTS 280,027 11/30 Italy.

LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner. 

1. A MUFFLER OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED COMPRISING: A HOLLOW BODY HAVING AT LEAST ONE WALL AND OPPOSED ENDS, INLET AND OUTLET GAS CONDUITS ATTACHED TO SAID OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID BODY, A PLURALITY OF SPACED BAFFLE PLATES HAVING ALIGNED OPENINGS THEREON ATTACHED AT AN EDGE OF EACH THEREOF TO THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF SAID WALL AND EXTENDING THEREFROM, AN UNOBSTRUCTED PERFORATED TUBE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENINGS AND A PLURALITY OF COOLING FINS ATTACHED AT AN EDGE OF EACH THEREOF TO THE OUTSIDE SURFACE OF SAID WALL AND EXTENDING THEREFROM, THE ATTACHED EDGES OF SAID FINS POSITIONED OPPOSITE TO THE LINE OF ATTACHMENT OF SAID INTERIOR BAFFLES TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS HEAT CONDUCTION PATH FROM THE INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR OF SAID MUFFLER TO PROVIDE UNIFORM COOLING OF SAID MUFFLER. 